I booked this cruise as a birthday gift for my daughter's 27th just a girls' weekend getaway. The cruise was paid in full before the ship set sail for her first Bahamas sailing. As a seasoned cruiser, I always read the reviews here and was disappointed to see all the negative comments, reviews and discussions coming back about the ship. Needless to say I was expecting the worst and my only saving grace was the fact that my DD had never cruised before so would have nothing with which to compare this cruise.

Having taken a 6am flight out of New York, we arrived at Miami port by 10am. There is nothing to do there so don't get in early! Luckily the port opened at 10:45 and we were the first to get in. Check in was a breeze and we were given a number to wait for our group to board. We actually boarded the vessel around 11:30, and, glass of champagne in hand, we headed for deck 11 for some lunch and a dip in the pool. We then did a deck by deck exploration of the ship stopping on deck 9 to see if we could drop our luggage off in our cabin. Surprise! Cabin was immaculate and fully ready for us, so we were able to unpack and freshen up. Found my cabin steward by walking up & down the hallway, slipped him a $20 and we had towel animals (which they only seem to do for cabins with small children) and a full ice bucket constantly!

The ship itself is in beautiful condition and the decor is fittingly tropical even though it is Hawaiian rather than Caribbean themed. If you didn't know that this ship previously sailed Hawaii, you probably wouldn't even notice. In fact, the lovely flower spray on the bow of the ship is quite eye catching as it sits in the Bahamas seaports. Read more